Josh Priester enters his third season on the track & field
coaching staff at UCSB in 2010-2011. Priester is the coach for the
men's and women's sprinters, hurdlers, horizontal jumpers and
heptathletes.

Priester came to Santa Barbara from George Fox University, an
NCAA Div. III program in Newberg, Oregon. Priester coached at his
alma mater starting in 2006. He coached the sprints, hurdles and
relays and co-coached the multi-event athletes.

During his time at GFU, the sprints and hurdles group had great
success in the Northwest Conference. In 2008, GFU athletes won
conference crowns in both the men's and women's 400 meters, 400m
hurdles, 4x100m and the men's decathlon. At the national level, GFU
qualified seven sprinters and hurdlers for the 2008 NCAA Div. III
Championships.

In addition to coaching at George Fox, Priester also served as the
athletic departments first Strength and Conditioning Coach, working
with the majority of the varsity programs. He was an Assistant
Professor of Health and Human Performance at both George Fox and
Chemeketa Community College.

As an athlete, Priester was an NCAA Div. III All-American in the
decathlon with a personal best of 7016. Priester earned his
Master's degree in Sports Science from the United States Sports
Academy in Daphne, Ala., and he earned his Bachelor's in Health and
Human Performance from George Fox.

UCSB 2010 Profile
The 2010 season marked Priester's second year on staff at UCSB and
athletes under his leadership continued to set new standards in the
sprints, hurdles and jumps in Santa Barbara. Junior Barbara Nwaba
went on to capture UCSB's first Big West Championship in the
Women's Heptathlon with a score of 5,552 ec

lipsing her own school record from 2009 by more than 500 points.
Nwaba went on to place 12th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships
making her the first UCSB Heptathlete in school history to earn All
American Honors. In June, Nwaba became the first Gaucho to
represent UCSB in the women's heptathlon at the USA Outdoor
National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition to the
heptathlon, Nwaba also captured the Big West Championship in the
400 meter hurdles.

The men's 4x400 relay team of Andre Pinon, Alvin Go, Jimmy
Martin and Ryan Martin reached the NCAA quarterfinals in Austin,
Texas and went on to break a 42 year old school record by running a
3:09.18. Freshman Jimmy Martin and Senior Drew Johnston represented
UCSB at the First Round of the NCAA Championships in the 400 meter
hurdles. Martin ended his freshman year with a time of 51.92.
Johnston improved from 54.08 his junior year to 51.96 his senior
year. The sophomore pair of Tamara Thomas and Tayler Williams made
big strides in the women's triple jump in a year that saw the
school record broken 6 times in that event. Williams went on to
capture All Conference Honors by placing 3rd at the Big West
Championships. Thomas finished the year with a new school and
personal record jump of 41'03.25.

The women's 4x400 relay team broke a UCSB record at the Big West
Championships by running a 3:43.59. The Gaucho relay team consisted
of Barbara Nwaba (Junior), Jennifer Carey (Freshman), Cherelle
McMillian (Freshman) and Sheneice Vargas (Junior). The women's
heptathlon crew made big waves at the Big West Championships by
amassing 17 points in the event after finishing 1st , 5th, and 6th.
In all, 18 Gauchos earned spots on All Time UCSB lists in 2010.

UCSB 2009 Profile
In his first season with the Gauchos, Priester coached one Western
Regional Qualifier, Three All-Big West Performances, and three
school records. Sophomore Barbara Nwaba broke UCSB records in the
heptathlon (5039 points), 100 meter hurdles (14.21) and the 400
meter hurdles (60.91). Nwaba went on to place second in the high
jump at the Big West Championships with a regional qualifying jump
of 1.75 meters; she also placed third at the Big West Conference
meet in the heptathlon with 5000 points even. The Men's 4x400m
squad improved to third place at the Big West Conference
Championships running the second-fastest time in UCSB history. The
team of Max Bellisimo, Jason Newland, Alvin Go and Ryan Martin ran
3:10.56. In the women's 4x400m, The Gauchos also took third at
Conference with an improved time of 3:45.97. That relay consisted
of Sheneice Vargas, Dominique Augustus, Lauren Kodama, and Barbara
Nwaba.
Senior Jason Newland improved on the all-time UCSB top 10 list in
the 100 meters and 200 meters to place fifth and second at the Big
West Championship Meet. Newland ran 10.68 and 21.45 respectively.
Thirteen Gauchos also earned places on the UCSB all-time top 10
List during the 2009 season.